Big Bang member SeungRi together with actors Kim Bum and Yoo Seung Ho has been casted for movie ‘71′.
‘71′ is the story of 71 South Korean student soldiers who fought the war on the morning of 10th August 1950 with North Korean army.

SeungRi, whose hometown is in GwangJoo, will be using his accent in the movie acting as one of the student soldiers. In the movie, the 71 student soldiers will be led by their commanders Park Ha Seob (played by Kim Bum) and Yoo Jin (Yoo Seung Ho).

This will be SeungRi’s second appearance in movie after the previous filming of ‘Why did you come to our house’. SeungRi was casted as one of the student soldier through a public audition.

YG Entertainment said, “This will be a good acting experience for SeungRi. After his acting debut in musical ‘Sonagi’ last year, SeungRi will move on to try other areas like dramas and movies.”

SeungRi has raised many eyebrows to have described himself as a ’self-torturing pervert’.

This was what he wrote in Big Bang’s book ‘Shouting to you in the world’ released on 28th January.

SeungRi talks about the criticisms he received, “Criticisms can hurt immediately but I look at them as advice and learning points. Even if I have to accept those hurtful words, I accept them. I tell myself I will become stronger after that.”

“I think like a self-torturing pervert who look at criticisms as sources of energy and motivation.”

SeungRi also revealed that he is not one who will avoid any criticisms, instead he will look up on any of them to read them. It is seldom the case in the entertainment zone that artistes will go and look up on criticisms against them and read them.

Having personally read all the criticisms against him, SeungRi said, “Now I know. And I will make sure there will not be such thoughts popping up in people’s mind the future.”

SeungRi also revealed that he think of criticisms as praises sometimes, “When what that has been criticised grows and complements, it becomes a praise. That is why I enjoy criticisms. When I think of how they will tranform into criticisms, and how I am given the change to become a better artiste and grow, I am thankful and all accept all criticisms against me.”

A photo of Big Bang member TOP taken with his mother and elder sister after Big Bang’s recent concert has raised much attention from fans.

TOP posted the photos on his own minihompy on 2nd February with the title ‘After a great concert this time’.
Also what had caught the attention of many is the bag that TOP’s mother carry with her in the photo with the words ‘TOP’s MOM’ printed on it. TOP wrote, “This is a present from Seung Hyun to mom.”

Idol group Big Bang’s recent book ‘Shouting to you in the world’ is actually more a book about self-development than one that is of Big Bang’s autobiography.

That was what Big Bang members said when they were holding a press conference on 6th February in Seoul Press Centre for the release of the book.

Member DaeSung said, “This book is not about our success stories but rather our true thoughts and experiences that we go through this while.”

Leader GDragon, “Yes, like DaeSung goon has said it, this book is not about success stories. Many people see us as the Big Bang who are always at a good spot. But what if we tell you we were actually floating stars? People will understand how we got to where we are now through this book.”

Member TaeYang, “The things we dreamt about before we debut as singers, the pain and troubles that we go through after that, the book will introduce to readers all these one by one. The book talks about our dreams as singers and also the future that we dream of and want to chase after for.”

And member SeungRi said, “When Yang Hyun Seok’s representative told us about the plan for this book, we were doubtful at first. But we understood that this is not the book about what we have done well, but about the dreams of 5 teenagers and how they were actually realised. We hope to embrace readers with hope and courage.”

The book ‘Shouting to you in the world’ was released on 28th January, has risen up to the #1 best seller place. Until present a total of 160,000 copies are sold.
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Leader GDragon also talks about how of all the songs that he has self-composed, ‘Haru Haru’ has been the most meaningful one for him.

He said, “Even though I like all the songs, I personally think that ‘Haru Haru’ is the most meaningful one for me. Personally I thought the song is the one which has the biggest sacrifice meaning to it.”

GDragon also revealed, “Fans and students have sent me many books. Whenever I had the time, I would read the books. But to say the truth, I feel that my level of writing is not to the level of my lyric writing.”

GDragon also revealed about his upcoming solo debut, “Right now, TaeYang and I are working hard on it. But I will come out with my solo works 4-5 months earlier than TaeYang.”

Big Bang GDragon and So Nyeo Shi Dae TaeYeon has been voted the #1 ‘Stars you want to marry’ for the stars in their 2os.

This was results to a questionnaire posted to Koreans conducted on KBS ‘Entertainment Weekly’. TaeYeon and GDragon was voted #1, and at #2 is Dong Bang Shin Ki Xiah JunSu and Kim Tae Hee.

TaeYeon was also voted #1 in the category ‘The star I would prefer to date rather than marrying” while Dong Bang Shin Ki Micky YooChun was also voted #1 in this category. #2 and #3 in this category for went to Tiffany and Nam GyuRi, and GDragon and Xiah Junsu.

Big Bang TOP (22) appears on SBS Family Outing. The episode was aired on 8th February.

And TOP has showed his charming and pure side on the family’s visit to KangWonDo YokGae. TOP has also rode in a boat out to sea to catch sharks with the other family members.

He was personally fed the raw fish slices by the fishermen who were present and had exclaimed out, “Woa, this is really different. This is so fresh.”

Both had also revealed on the show how they had felt on their first meeting. TOP said, “My thoughts during our first meeting were, ‘he looked like he can really sing well’, ‘he looked a little older than I had expected it to be’, ‘could he be the manager?’…”

While DaeSung said that during their first meeting, his impressions were ‘he looked frivolous’ and ‘he didn’t look like he has any thoughts (that he was thinking?)”.

Not only so, during dinner time for the episode, DaeSung has instructed his TOP hyung with things like “bring the bowls here”, and “put in the water”, things he wouldn’t have been able to instruct TOP to do normally. This had also left TOP flustered, not knowing what to do.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Also, TOP was also called the ‘2nd Chun-derella’ . All the charming rapper image was gone when he has to catch their catchings for the day for dinner. He had said, “I have never tried something like this before… This seems impossible for me.” He tried to touch the fishes with his hands but could just not do so and said, “This is the worst thing I’ve touched since I was born.” He had then resorted to hypnotising the fishes by twirling the water with his fingers.

To be revealed in the episode next week: TOP performing his rap freestyle!

Will be held on the 12th of February, 5pm. 14 top groups/singers such as Wonder Girls, TVXQ, Big Bang, Jewelry, Park Ji-yoon, Kim Jong Kook, Son Dam Bi, Park Hyun Bin and 2PM will be battling it out for the prestigious award.

The awards will be presented to the best singers based on various criteria such as album sales, popularity, professional judging and mobile voting to decide on the country's most popular group and singer.

Big Bang, a five-member boy band, has a huge fan base in Korea. In fact, the group is regarded as the most profitable music act in recent years, with CDs topping all the major Korean charts and dominating the airwaves.

Since their 2006 debut, Big Bang has set new records, breathing fresh life into Korea`s boy band market. The popularity of Big Bang is based on its music style that can be largely classified as hip pop music ("La, La, La" and "Good Bye Baby"), with a little R&B. But the group members have expanded into different music genres in their solo work, including ballads and mainstream pop.

Big Bang members also contribute to their high profile activity by writing lyrics for their own music as well as composing. Its leader G-Dragon, for instance, has already composed and written several songs for the group, including "Lies" and "Last Farewell."

Big Bang`s dance style has emerged as a hot fad for Koreans. The group often relies on freestyle and street dancing, but the members also show variations by showcasing their break dancing skills.

More important is the identity of Big Bang. While most Korean boy bands used the cute boy image to attract fans, Big Bang instead adopted the hip-hop concept, a novelty for Koreans back in 2006.

Big Bang is now undoubtedly a fashion icon for Korean youth, and G-Dragon is regarded as the most fashionable person in the band, inspiring local teenagers with street-originated style.

Given the admirable achievements of Big Bang in a short period, the band`s first attempt at a local publishing market is expected to be a huge success. When the book, titled "Scream Yourself to the World," hit online bookstores last week, it quickly climbed to the top slot in the essay category, proving the group`s popularity among readers as well.

The book has five chapters, with each devoted to a member. In the first chapter, G-Dragon (Kwon Ji-yong), explains how he has managed to nurture his musical skills without falling into complacency.

"When my friends were memorizing English vocabulary items, I was learning new dance moves. When my friends were playing outside, I was practicing choreography in a small, damp underground hall," G-Dragon says.

Taeyang (Dong Young-bae), who started out as a rapper, but is now the main vocalist of Big Bang, says what drives his passion is "honest effort." Taeyang says that each and every person responds to criticism differently, and the key to success is to pursue one`s goal in an honest manner, taking criticism constructively and positively.

T.O.P (Choi Seung-hyun), who is considered the "big brother" of the band, stresses the importance of identity. "There is nothing like a fixed `myself` because we are constantly in the process of making ourselves," he says.
Dae Sung (Kang Dae-sung), a vocalist in Big Bang, claims that a key component to success is to remain positive.

"I always thought positive even when bad things happened to me, and before I knew it I was back on track because of such positive thinking," he says.

Seung Ri (Lee Seung-hyun) says that he suffered an inferiority complex but turned it into a sense of pride. "When I was pursuing my goal as a singer, I suffered a lot because I felt I was not good enough," he says. But he continued to strengthen his will, which turned out to be far more rewarding that he imagined.

Big Bang will move on with their promotion in Japan.Big Bang just ended their ‘Big Show’ concert in Seoul Olympic Stadium from 31st January to 1st February seeing about 52,000 fans present. And the concert will end Big Bang’s promotion for their album in Korea.

After this, Big Bang will leave for Japan Tokyo on 15th February and will stay there for about 3 days and 2 nights for their schedule. The boys will also appear on a famous morning show and hold a fanmeeting on 16th February.

YG Entertainment said, “They will leave for Japan for their promotion on 15th February and come back on the 17th. They will also appear on a special edition for a morning program and also have a fanmeeting there.”

The YG representative also added, “Right now SeungRi will continue with his solo activity and GDragon will release his solo album in April. After they return back to Korea, our focus will be more on individual activity rather than group activities.”

Group Dong Bang Shin Ki had won the BonSang award together with mobile popularity award even though they did not attend the award ceremony.

Dong Bang Shin Ki is currently busy with their promotion in Japan. There were some fans who protested against Seoul Music Awards for being unfair for Dong Bang Shin Ki’s non-participation. One netizen said, “Seoul Music Award’s fairnesss! Request for abolition!”

Other netizens have also said, “They should understand that Dong Bang Shin Ki is promoting in Japan. It becomes a problem if they don’t give the award for no-show.”

Group Big Bang is another big winner for tonight - they also won 4 awards: BonSang, mobile popularity award, High1 award and best album award.

Today is Feb. 12, Seungri day. right? ^^
And it will be Valentine’s day soon.
Valentine is a day where people in love give chocolate to each other
so I’m here to give you guys chocolate~
I can’t give it to you physically
so please just take my heart~^^

I’ve recieved so much love with such astonishing results beginning of 2009,
so i’m very happy but in part, i’m kind of scared.
Due to the fans who are standing behind me through rain and snow,
I feel like I have been able to experience such blessings and I am very happy every day.
After this letter…. I don’t think there will be a lot of letters from me….
because starting march…I’ll be having some self-development time.
The members have promised that when BigBang comes together again,
we’ll be so shocked at each other’s improvement that we won’t be able to hide it.
Once my solo time ends in March, I will be trying my best for myself and for the fans ^^
You guys better not cheat on us in the mean time… haha If you get caught, I’m going to scold you. hahaha
There are fans who want me to rest
but it’ll be fine starting March so don’t worry.
There are fans who will be saying ‘Then do you guys come back T.T’
but don’t worry because in April LEEDAH jiyong hyung will come out with his solo album~ ^^
The members will show up here and there in different areas so don’t you worry~~
I think I, too, have grown too used to you guys
so it feels weird to think that my solo time will be over….
I want to end it well ^^ so I have prepared something special…haha
Thank you for supporting me so much
I don’t know what else to say except ‘Thank you’…^^ Do you know what I mean??
We will come back with issues you have never expected (t/n: hopefully not bad ones LOL)

finally~
There are many people who have been working extra hard
due to BigBang concert and Seungri’s solo T.T
YG, Teddy hyung, Kush hyung
Dancer hyungs and noonas and stylist noonas, Hwang trainer, fan noonas and
manager hyungs and all of yg family who have been working day and night for BigBang.
I don’t expect anything from you guys…but I just want to ask you to
greet our staffs with a smile when you guys see them~ ^^
Us BigBang could not have come this far without them and I hope our fans know that
I hope our flyyyyy fans are working hard ^^ to reach for their dreams and
I hope the future days will be filled with happiness for the members and I~

anyways, did you enjoy eating my delicious chocolate???
I’ll bring a more luxurious chocolate next time~~
good bye -3- <3

If you run into it without giving up,
dreams will not be able to look past you.

Big Bang member SeungRi who had a successful solo debut with ‘Strong Baby’ will end his promotional activities with a performance of the remix version of the song.

YG Entertainment said, “SeungRi will end his promotions with a performance of remixed version of ‘Strong Baby’ on 14th February on MBC Music Core.”

SeungRi said, “In this one month, I guess fans have grown tired of the same song. So we came up with the remix version. The remix is done by 1TYM Teddy, it will have a different feeling as before. Because it is my last performance, I will want it to be a good one.”

For the remix performance, SeungRi will also be performing a new set of choreography.
After which, SeungRi will start preparing for his role filming in movie ‘71′.

Idol group Big Bang seems to be the boys-next-door, even quiet and unassuming, but once they are on stage they exude charisma and passion in their music.

They were not overnight stars. They were well prepared and tailor-made by YG Entertainment led by Yang Hyun-suk, a local pop mogul.

In ``Shouting to the World'' written by Big Bang, which has shot onto the bestseller list, they write about how they became stars and overcame difficulties on the way.

However, the book is not an autobiography but a self-development guide, giving clear directions and inspirational messages for readers who seek success of any type. Through their vivid and real stories, they say what the young should do and how to achieve their goals and control their minds.

Consisting of T.O.P., Victory, G-Dragon, Dae-sung and Tae-yang who are not that tall or handsome like other idols, the group tells their stories in their own words in chapters written by each members.

``This book is not just a success story but an essay which tells the dreams and hopes of the young through self-fulfillment,'' G-Dragon said.

They were selected through a survival test among six contestants over four years. They underwent harsh competition and had to pass each step to become a finalist.

G-Dragon, born Kwon Ji-yong, harbored a dream to become a singer at a very early age and spent six years as an apprentice at an entertainment agency.

``We memorized rap songs and dances when our friends memorized English words at school. When they sweated in the playground, we sweated to learn the dances in the stifling underground rehearsal room, fighting the sweltering heat,'' he said.

Because they had different goals from their peers who wanted to make it to prestigious universities, they had to make greater efforts than any others, he said.

In the first chapter, G-Dragon explains his position as the leader who has to be demanding, critical and harsh to other members.

The leader and songwriter of the group said that ``Big Bang is an idol group not born of talent but through effort.''

Although he has a talent for writing songs and lyrics, he had to submit a song he wrote to Yang every week for six years. He attributed the long and painful training process to his ability in composing. ``Talent and ability are different. Showing talent and being able to do it are totally different from just having it,'' he said.

Tae-yang (his real name is Dong Young-bae) first encountered pop music at the age of six through his brother's cassette. It was Michael Jackson's music. Since then, he continued to develop his interest in music, particularly the soul and R&B genres.

He met Yang when he had a small role in a music video shooting spot, and begged him for a chance to become a singer.

Not surprisingly, Yang shrugged off his request as the naive idea of a young boy, saying ``I will let you know later.'' But there was no contact from Yang, so Tae-yang visited his office and asked him to make him a singer.

Yang gave him the opportunity to audition, which led to the long apprenticeship. Despite strong opposition from his parents, he commuted from the rehearsal room near Hongik University in western Seoul to Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province after school everyday.

In daily feedback and monitoring, Tae-yang was criticized by Yang for his lack of singing ability and was sometimes compared to G-Dragon.

But whenever his weak points were revealed, he just increased his practice and training.

For Dae-sung, the smiling boy in the group, overcoming the objection from his parents was the most difficult task. He confessed he left home for one week to win their permission.

But the real world was harsher than his parents' opposition. He was nicknamed as a smiling boy and cheerful icebreaker although he is, in fact, shy and introverted. Dae-sung sometimes felt burdened by having to talk when he didn't want to. But his image actually made him think positively and become more cheerful, particularly in the face of hardship.

T.O.P. (Choi Seung-hyun) might be the most candid member when talking about the past. He confessed he used to hang around with delinquent friends.

But after he experienced his best friends' deaths in motorcycle accidents, he began to concentrate on writing lyrics for hip-hop songs.

Before becoming an apprentice at YG Entertainment, he performed on many underground stages at hip-hop clubs but hadn't danced before. So he couldn't accept dancing as a rapper and had trouble adapting to rigorous dancing training and tight control on his personal life.

Lastly, Victory, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, had a more bitter experience than other members. He first failed to pass the final apprentice round because of his lack of singing ability. He was a dancer rather than a singer before joining the group.

But Yang gave him a last chance without any real expectation that he would make it. He practiced singing anytime and anywhere after even being kicked out of their training house.

Finally, he won the hearts of the producer but he still tries to improve his singing skills, he said.

Big Bang DaeSung reveals a nickname for fellow member TOP ‘Bing Goo TOP‘ because of the many foolish acts that TOP had pulled.

During SBS Family Outing episode aired on 15th February, DaeSung reveals the little secret about his hyung member. They had come together to make breakfast that day with Yoo Jae Seok and Yoon Jong Shin.

And DaeSung said, “TOP hyung’s nickname is ‘Bing Goo TOP‘. At the company, he will pull many foolish acts and we gave him that nickname. He even do funny dances.”

With that, Yoo Jae Seok and Yoon Jong Shin started calling TOP by ‘Bing Goo TOP‘.

TOP, “You had revealed the title given to me that I don’t like the most.” And DaeSung replied, “I didn’t know hyung didn’t like that.”
And then DaeSung continues to reveal more secrets about TOP, “TOP and myself are the gagmen in Big Bang. We even made videos of our gagtalk. He then showed a video of talk in our a shower gown in his gag acts from a camcorder.

YG Entertainment announced that they had signed a contract to allow game ‘Sudden Attack’ to use the Big Bang members in their game content.

The idea was, “merged the idea of Korea’s best online game and best boyband”.

From ‘Sudden Attack’ marketing side, “Big Bang is used as the models to the game as they are representatives of music and fashion enjoyed by young gamers”

YG Entertainment, “It is exciting to be able to see the Big Bang members in the online games. After a few months of preparation, not only will gamers see Big Bang in the game as characters and also music. This will be the chance where the gaming industry and the music industry will come together for a project this large scale.”